Stranger Things Creators Say Annual Releases Mean Diminishing Returns — The Long Wait Is The Point
The Duffer brothers have no interest in churning out 20-episode seasons every year, pushing back against assembly-line TV.
Stranger Things takes its sweet time between seasons, and the Duffer brothers aren’t apologizing for it. Their argument: TV doesn’t have to be a yearly treadmill. It can be an event you build toward. Whether you love that or it makes you stare at your calendar in rage probably depends on how you like your binge.
The Duffers' take: less is more
"If TV shows come out every year, it’s diminishing return. I like the build-up."
That was Matt Duffer at Variety's Entertainment and Technology Summit, explaining why Stranger Things has never tried to be an annual drop. He also said he gets worn out by 20-episode marathons and, funny enough, he and Ross didn’t even grow up as TV kids — they were movie-first — which makes their TV dominance a little ironic.
So, how long have we actually waited?
- Season 1 hit in 2016. Five seasons later, the show will have stretched across nearly a decade — and every season has been under 10 episodes.
- Season 4 arrived in May 2022.
- By the time Season 5 lands this November, that’s roughly a three-and-a-half-year gap from Season 4.
- The final season is rolling out on Netflix in three chunks: November 26, December 25, and December 31.
What they are doing next
With Stranger Things wrapping up, the Duffers are already teeing up their next phase under a new deal at Paramount. On deck: a big original movie and some series aimed at tight, eight-to-10-episode seasons — which tracks with their less-is-better philosophy.
The counterargument: clockwork TV
Scott Gimple, who oversees The Walking Dead universe, recently told GamesRadar+ he prefers the old-school rhythm. Pre-COVID, TWD reliably shot May or June through October or November to keep episodes flowing on a schedule. His view is that TV is at its best when audiences can literally plan around it — appointment viewing you can set your watch to. It’s a very different philosophy from the Duffers’ event-style, take-a-breather approach.
Whichever camp you’re in, Netflix is turning the Stranger Things finale into a holiday-season triple drop. Translation: the Hawkins goodbye tour is built for the long wait — and the long weekend.